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Fall Flag League Nears Finish Line

OCEAN CITY- The Ocean City Recreation and Parks Department’s Fall Flag Football League neared a conclusion this week as the playoffs reached their final rounds.

The Eastside Mafia cruised through the early rounds of the playoffs and sits atop on the bracket, waiting for the drama to unfold in the loser’s bracket. Buxy’s Salty Dog fell to Eastside Mafia and had to battle back to the loser’s bracket final, while the BACKER’s got a second round win and benefited from a forfeit by Tequila Mockingbird to reach the loser’s bracket final. Whoever emerges from the loser’s bracket will have to beat Eastside Mafia twice to claim the championship. The following is a quick look at some of the key playoff games:

(bullet) Eastside Mafia 13- NAS/Three Brothers 0: The Eastside Mafia turned in a workmanlike performance in the first round with a 13-0 win. Eastside’s scoring came on a 50-yard TD pass from Ray Taranto to Jake Southards, and an interception returned 45 yards for a touchdown by Vince Stewart. The ESM also had two goal line stands and an interception in the end zone by Ron Strickler. For NAS, Jodi Mitchell also had two interceptions in the end zone.

(bullet) Buxy’s 31- FOP 10: Buxy’s jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, getting touchdown passes from D.J. Draus to Evan Dittler, Pat Spicer and Justin Howarth to build an 18-0 lead. Buxy’s Keith Jackson then returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 25-0. The FOP made a comeback attempt with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Dennis Eade to Tim Bokinsky and a 66-yard TD run by Eade to cut the lead to 25-14, but Buxy’s closed the deal with a 19-yard TD pass from Bart Talbert to Draus to finish the game with a 31-14 win.

(bullet) Eastside Mafia 38- Tequila Mockingbird 8: Tequila Mockingbird jumped out to an early lead on a 50-yard TD run by Machelle Williams and a safety to go ahead 8-0. However, ESM kicked into gear with 38 unanswered points. Taranto threw a 23-yard TD pass to Dan Kauffman, a three-yard TD strike to Chris Poochie, a 66-yard TD pass to Strickler, which included a pitch to Stewart, another 30-yard touchdown pass to Kauffman and a four-yard strike to Strickler.

(bullet) Buxy’s 21- U.S. Coast Guard 6: Nick Jones threw a 66-yard TD pass to Nick Soussanin for Buxy’s first score, and Draus threw touchdown two touchdown passes to Pat Spicer to jump out to a 21-0 lead. The Coast Guard got on the board with an eight-yard TD pass from Tim Kolb to Jesus Mares.

(bullet) BACKERS 12- FOP 10: The FOP scored first on a one-yard TD pass from Eade to Todd Speigle to take a 7-0 lead. The BACKERS responded with a three-yard touchdown pass from Andy Harstein to Brian Delligatti and a 23-yard scoring strike to Jim Harstein to take a 12-7 lead. With the FOP driving, the BACKER’s Jeff Mitchell intercepted the ball on the three-yard-line as time expired.